Closure
by Secraltus
Summary: Explores Riku's steep into darkness and his relationship with Sora.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Squaresoft or Disney. Nor Kingdom Hearts or its characters. Not even Sephiroth. But that's not the point. I do, however, own this story, so please do not abduct it. If you want to use it, just let me know. Oh, and please review? ^_^   
  
  
  
  
**C L O S U R E**   
  
  
  
  
**-Prologue-**

"Come on, Sora! Together, we can do it!" Riku said, as he appeared from the other side of the door, much to the astonishment of Sora. 

A mixture of happiness and complete disbelief seized him at the sight of his friend, for Sora had thought Riku was gone for good. He just stood and stared dumbfounded at Riku. But only momentarily, for the monumental task at hand necessitate more immediate attention. He again leaned his weight upon the door of Kingdom Hearts and began pushing with his fatigued arms - he had been drained from the fight with Ansem, the self-proclaimed "seeker of darkness". Donald and Goofy too, were exhausted from combat. The three of them were barely moving the door with their combined strength. But now, at the sight of Riku, Sora was psychologically rejuvenated and started to push with all he had, trying as hard as he was able to manifest this mental strength physically. He cannot fail. He _must_ not fail. The fate of all worlds hung on the closure of Kingdom Hearts. 

With Riku's help, they were now making more significant progress, but not enough as the Heartless Darksides were approaching them at, it seems, a fatal rate. 

"It is hopeless!" Donald cried, vocally expressing the fears and despair all of them felt. 

Suddenly, all the Darksides were destroyed. Donald and Goofy, surprised at this unexpected development, saw a bright light bursting from beneath the bleak ground, when none other than their King emerged. 

"Your Majesty!" they exclaimed, in astounded jubilation. 

The four of them noted that King Mickey also had a Keyblade and now understood the sudden defeat of the Heartless. But unlike Sora's Keyblade, its handle was coated silver and its blade blazed with a magnificent golden. 

The King held up his Keyblade - a triumphant gesture that inspired much hope in their hearts - and shouted, "Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!" 

Donald too, urged Sora to close the door promptly. But Sora hesitated. He knew what it meant to the world that this door be closed at once, but closing it would be equivalent to committing the fates of his friend Riku and the King to tragedy. Before this, he thought he had lost Riku, but with his unexpected appearance, it gave him hope that they will be reunited. Now, he was required to _personally_ doom his friend to oblivion. Such irony seemed too cruel to not have been orchestrated by satirical hands. It was simply unbearable. 

The insightful King translated Sora's hesitation and answered his uncertain thoughts, "Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light." 

Goofy, though distressed about the imminent separation from his King yet again, knew that he could trust King Mickey. He turned to Sora and nodded. "Sora, you can trust King Mickey." 

But still, Sora remained undecided. He was still wrestling with this tormenting dilemma. 

Finally, the long-silent Riku, knowing the relentless nature of the Heartless, spoke up to persuade Sora with a warning, "Now! They're coming!" 

Sora saw more Darksides emerging and began to think about the catastrophic consequences that might result if this door was not closed. And the unthinkable outcome effectively wrecked his selfish indecision. He looked up at Riku and sighed, then proceeded to pursue the noble course of action. 

"Donald, Goofy, thank you," the King said, with a finality in his voice that the trio did not like. 

But their faith in the King could no longer be swayed by personal obstacles. They pushed with all their might and the doors of Kingdom Hearts were moving to a close. 

"Take care of her," Riku said to Sora, just as the door was about to be closed shut. 

Sora nodded with all the reassurance he could summon to conquer his bursting sorrow. 

Then, he and King Mickey held up their Keyblades and pointed it to the door. A bright beam of light shot out from each Keyblade and the door was illuminated with a radiant, lucent brilliance. Then, it vanished. 

Kingdom Hearts was sealed.   
  



	2. Chapter One: The Secret Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own Squaresoft or Disney. Nor Kingdom Hearts or its characters. Not even Sephiroth. But that's not the point. I do, however, own this story, so please do not abduct it. If you want to use it, just let me know. Oh, and please review? ^_^   
  
  
  
  
**C L O S U R E**   
  
  
  
  
**-Chapter One: The Secret Monster-**

The warmth of the sun draping over his face was comfortable, almost drowsy. The sand was his bed and the sky his dream. Right now, he was dreaming of seagulls flying. He studied them as they spread their soft, snowy wings elegantly and, in majestic sweeps, sailed across the blue expanse, to where he could not. 

_These birds… they are so free, so… unrestrained._

The boy contemplated this idea often. And always in this supine position, for he liked to look at the sky. He liked the way it would look back at him, offering him tranquillity and questions. The sky was his solace during times when he was troubled or angry. When he sought it out of boredom, it would fan his imagination and fuel his curiosity. 

Currently, he was in the latter mood. He watched as the birds cruised around the sky, an action that caused him much envy, for he was a curious and freedom-seeking person. The mere suggestion - by his best friend, Sora - of exploring the unknown parts of this island last month, caused him so much excitement, that he was sleepless the night before actually embarking on this adventure. 

And for many days after that, he would constantly thirst for new places to explore. Just last week, he finally managed to uncover every acre of the island, that is, save for one place: a dark cave that was hidden by some bushes. The only reason why he did not proceed further was because Sora was rattled by the growls and roars they heard coming from inside, which caused Sora to conclude that there was a monster in the cave. 

But he knew that there was no monster. There could not possibly be any, for he had had no supernatural encounters of any kind on this island or his home island. He wasn't just being a stubborn sceptic. In fact, he had been on the lookout for any and every thing that would seem even vaguely out of the ordinary, in the hope that he would discover something that wasn't mundane, as his life was. But after all these years, he knew he had to settle for realism and thrills of such kind were thereafter found only in his fantasies. 

Despite this, he did not shatter Sora's fantasy with his cynicism, since Sora was even more hopeful and imaginative than he was. He liked to see his friend happy, for he knew how very much excited he was about this idea - that there indeed *is* a monster in the cave, no matter how small the chance and albeit his fear. Perhaps, it was this desire for adventures that bound them as the best of friends. They would do many things together: explore undiscovered areas, talk about their fantasies with each other and of what they would do when they grow up, fight with each other to see who was the strongest and race each other to decide who was the swiftest. 

The birds now parted regally, returning to their fair palace beyond the horizon. The boy sat up and sighed, lamenting the end of his dream. Suddenly, he realised that Sora had been gone for quite some time now - he had previously dared Sora to venture to the cave alone. Of course, being competitive and trying to show off his bravery, Sora agreed. It was during this time that the boy laid down to gaze at the sky. He had been carried away by his thoughts and now, having returned to reality, began to worry for his friend, as he should have been back by this time. 

_What if Sora's right? What if there is a monster and it took - !_

"Riku!" 

He felt relieved. 

"Riku! There's a… a monster… in there! I saw it! And… and it's huge!!" Sora shouted breathlessly, as he ran to where Riku was. 

Riku turned around and stood up to face Sora, slightly amused at the sight of his delighted friend and his overly-animated gestures. 

"I tell you… Riku, I saw… it! The monster, I… saw it!" 

He paused, and bent over to catch his breath, while Riku hid his doubt by indulging Sora, "Oh really? And what did it look like?" 

Sora tried to compose himself. When he did, he straightened up and swallowed, before saying enthusiastically, "It… was gigantic! It's black all over and it's scary! It's so big, it occupied the *entire* cave!! And… its growls were deafening! I could have sworn the ground almost shook!!" 

"Oh?" Riku smiled at Sora. "Then, let's go see it!" 

"Alright!"   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Come on! It's late. We've gotta go now," Sora urged Riku, gesturing toward the darkening sky. 

This was a week ago, when Riku would soon find out that he would run out of places to explore for the following days. 

"Hold on. Just a little while longer," the bush in front of Sora replied. 

"But it's really late! Our mothers are going to be furiou- " 

"Alright!" Riku emerged from the bush. "It's official. We've explored every part of this island!" 

Riku beamed at their joint achievement as he began to brush the leaves off his clothes. Sora smiled to see the length his friend would go just to satiate his curiosity - Riku spent the better part of the day climbing into *every* bush on the island, trying to uncover more caves. 

"I told you there aren't any more secret caves," Sora teased. 

Riku sneered, "Yeah right. You were just afraid we might discover more *monsters*!" 

"That's not true! And… and I *wasn't* afraid!" 

"Sure. Come on. Let's go home now." 

The duo began walking toward their boat; Riku still checking his clothes for any other dirt his mother would scream at him for, while Sora was fuming in his own indignation. 

"Oh yeah! Dare me to go to that cave alone. I'll… I'll do it! Just to prove you wron --- Riku!!" 

Riku started. He looked up and saw Sora pointing to the sky, mouth gaping wide. He followed Sora's gaze and what he saw arrested him too. 

Against the backdrop of the now-darkened sky, was a sight of such beauty that none of them had ever beheld. In a blaze of splendid, golden orange, a shooting star was burning across the night. It lit up the darkness in its path, glowing brightly with indescribable incandescence. At the head of the streak, there was a light so beautiful that it looked like a shimmering pearl in all its glory. Such grandeur filled them with an unexplained sensation and they were drunk on this astronomical luxury they felt blessed to witness. 

Then, this powerful splendour slowly sank into the horizon. 

For a whole fifteen minutes after the meteor had passed from their sight, the two boys did not move. Both speechless and motionless, they were swelling with a profound emotion they did not understand. Sora felt like he was choking on his heart. Riku's eyes were wet. 

Finally, it was the latter who broke the silence. 

"…oh." Riku uttered drily. 

But Sora was still staring into the night, now lost in thought. Then he said softly, "If only… if only we could hold on to that… so… beautiful…" 

Riku turned to Sora and studied him. He noted how yearningly he looked toward the sky. 

"Hey, Sora." 

It took a moment for Sora to tear himself away from contemplation. 

"…yeah?" 

"Do you really want that? The falling star?" 

"Of course!" Sora said hopefully, but he soon lapsed into dejection. "But it's impossible, isn't it?" 

Riku turned toward the night sky again. He fell into consideration for a moment, then said, "No. Not really. I can get it for you, if you want." He paused, and faced Sora. "It's called a paopu. It's a star-shaped fruit. I know it's not much, but it's the closest we have to that star." 

Sora's eyes brightened and he was bursting with that level of excitement that only he could exhibit. "Really?? *The* legendary paopu? You mean it?" 

Riku nodded. "But not yet. They grow on that bending tree we found that day. I'm not big enough to climb it yet. But when I am, I'll get it for you." 

Sora laughed, "Alright! You promise?" He had now cheered up considerably. He suddenly realized how late it was and said, "Come on, Riku! Let's go home now. Our mothers must be worried sick!" He started to run toward the sea. "Race you to our boat!" 

Riku smiled to see his friend thus. "I promise," he said quietly, before dashing after Sora.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sound of rushing water grew as they drew nearer to the hidden cave. As they made a turn, they were greeted by the sight of a small waterfall, beneath which was a pool of freshwater. The two boys played around in this water often. 

Ridiculous, then, that danger could lurk so close to their haven of fun, for the secret cave was just situated beside the waterfall. 

These were the thoughts of Riku, as he and Sora were making their way to see the alleged monster. Sora, on the hand, was trying to contain himself from squealing from delight as he was imagining the various scenarios that could occur with their confrontation with this monster. 

"Sora, are you sure about this? Are you sure you really saw the monster?" Riku said, trying to prepare Sora for the upcoming disappointment. 

"It's true!" Sora asserted. "I saw it with my own eyes!" 

"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" 

"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there. I tell you!" 

Seeing that his friend was thus convinced, he again indulged his fantasy, "All right. Suppose there really is a monster… Think we can beat it by ourselves, Sora?" 

"No problem. Let's do it!" 

A roaring sound thundered from the mouth of the cave. 

"Listen!" Sora said, as he stopped in his tracks. "There! Can you hear it growling?" 

Riku cocked his head to one side and concentrated. And sure enough, a rumble came from the cave again. Now role-playing, he whispered, "Shh, quiet. We've gotta be careful." 

The two friends were immediately silent. And in this quietness, the sound of the waterfall became more pronounced, sounding frightfully loud. They kept as still as they could, lest this placidity was destroyed, and thus would alert the monster to their presence. Riku turned to Sora and nodded. The latter returned the signal to move into the cave and they crept carefully into the darkness. 

They tried to move as soundlessly as they were able through the winding path that met them upon entry. It seemed never-ending. They did not know when the path would end or where they would find themselves when it did. But this only added a greater sense of suspense and peril to their adventure. 

The problem of how they could proceed with their plan to fight this monster, without even possessing the tools to accomplish this task, suddenly occurred to Riku. But knowing the certainty of what they would find - or rather, not find - made this precarious predicament hilarious for him and he almost laughed out loud, when Sora said, "We're here!" 

Before them, was an opening much unlike the winding, narrow one they had just been through. Instead, this one was huge, its ceiling reaching very high up and it was as wide as it was tall. At both sides of the cave were the gigantic roots of trees, which had undoubtedly forced their way down into the roof through centuries, maybe even millenniums, of persistent growth. 

But there was no monster, much to Sora's regret. Riku looked around the cave, trying to identify the source of the misleading noise. He looked up and noticed a hole in the ceiling, through which the sound of the rushing wind had been amplified to produce the impression of a monster. 

"See that?" Riku directed Sora's attention to the gap. "It was just the wind making that noise." 

Sora kicked the ground in dissatisfaction. "Aw man. I wish it was a monster!" 

He then walked around, surveying the surroundings for anything interesting that would compensate for this upsetting result. As he proceeded further into the opening, he noticed that at the end of the cave, there was a wooden door with a large keyhole in the middle. The door looked like any ordinary wooden door, but the keyhole, outlined in gold, looked somewhat unusual and out of place. 

"Hold on! What's that over that?" he pointed to his discovery. 

Riku walked toward the door and reached out to touch its surface. It felt as it had looked. He tried to push it open, but it would not bulge. 

"A window, or maybe a door? It won't open," he said, still pursuing his study of the door. 

He concluded that there was nothing special about it, though the keyhole looked suspicious. But he did not put anything more to it, as everything had almost always not reciprocated his suspicion with surprise. As a result, he dismissed the weird vibes it gave him. 

"Geez," Sora sighed. "Is that really all that's in here?" 

"What do you expect in a boring place like this?" Riku said, half-scorning. Then added, "Hey Sora." 

"Hm?" 

"When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on *real* adventures, not this kid stuff!" 

"Sure," Sora said. "But isn't there anything fun to do now? Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house? She arrived on the night of the meteor shower!" 

Riku had never noticed this coincidence before and now that Sora had brought it to his attention, it caused him some thought. 

_The same night? Hm..._

Sora turned to leave the disappointing cave, clearly intending to visit the said girl. Before joining him, Riku looked at the keyhole again. 

_Something about it… something… different…_   
  



End file.
